Asahi takes over Australian craft brewer Green Beacon

Australia | Japan’s Asahi is going the whole hog and has swooped on the award-winning Queensland craft brewer Green Beacon, only four weeks after it acquired market leader Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) from AB-InBev.

The transaction was reported on 19 August 2019 but no financial details were disclosed.

For years, rumours have been flying around that Green Beacon could be sold. It is understood, says the Australian Financial Review, that CUB had already made overtures to Green Beacon and had been trying to convince the owners to sell. It was left to Asahi to finally clinch the deal.

Green Beacon will join CUB’s stable of craft breweries, which include Sydney's 4Pines and the Adelaide-based Pirate Life, both acquired during AB-InBev’s reign. Asahi itself bought Melbourne-based craft brewery Mountain Goat in 2015 and also owns the Cricketers Arms brand.

Green Beacon was established as a brewpub in early 2013 in the Brisbane suburb of Teneriffe, the first of a new wave of Brisbane-based breweries. It was founded by friends Marc Chrismas and Adrian Slaughter, who were later joined by brewer Johann van der Walt, whose beers won them numerous awards.

In 2017, Green Beacon built a production brewery in the northern industrial suburb of Geebung, in Brisbane. The brand had its reputation enhanced when it was selected by Singapore Airlines as one of the beers supplied to business class passengers on flights from Brisbane to Singapore.

Queensland’s craft beer scene is growing busier and busier. Reportedly, there are more than 90 craft breweries operating in Australia’s Sunshine State, out of 650 or so in the whole country. BrewDog’s own brewery in Brisbane is slated to open at the end of this year.